Smoke from engine after long drive

[Ford Motor Company]

After a long drive with around ~1400 miles on my GT Premium PP I smelled something like burning rubber. Not real strong, but definitely noticeable. I popped the hood and saw this smoke coming up from the left side of the engine. Anyone know what this is?

Hi there! Will you send us a message with your VIN and your local Ford dealer? I can look into things on my end.

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[Smaaron]

UPDATE: I just got a voicemail from the dealer that has my car. They said they figured it out, but I’m not sure exactly which part they are replacing. The voicemail said, “it’s the spark plug tube that goes in, and theres a seal in there, and for some reason the seal didn’t get all the way on to the tube there so part is on order and should get here early next week”.
Anybody know which seal they’re talking about?
Edit: just researched a little, and I assume they mean the seals between the heads and valve covers in the spark plug tubes got mangled during engine assembly. I guess this is fairly common on coyote crate motors and new cars.

 

[Skye]

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...hat-causes-this-no-check-engine-light.188690/

Maybe not the exact same parts, but same issue. The seals are part of the valve cover assembly.

Edit: updated with what I believe is a better link.

 

[Smaaron]

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...hat-causes-this-no-check-engine-light.188690/

Maybe not the exact same parts, but same issue. The seals are part of the valve cover assembly.

Edit: updated with what I believe is a better link.

Yup. That sounds right. Do you know if this is caused by assembly error? It sounds like this was happening a lot in past model years because Ford wasn’t using enough valve cover fasteners. I would think they would have fixed the issues with the s650.

 

[Skye]

There's a few issues I'm aware of. Someone with direct experience might offer better detail.

One problem area is the composite valve cover itself. In the lab or on the dyno, they could be great. But in an actual operating environment, they can warp from heat cycles over time.

Under hood, things are plenty dense. The seals around the plugs rest in the cover. If you're too quick during cover installation, one of those seals might be just a bit off.

Finally, how things are tightened down. I'm sure they use a machine that is pre-calibrated, but if one individual is torquing something out of sequence, or tightening on one area more than another it can lead to warping and bad sealing.

 

[Smaaron]

Anyone know if the 2024 GT uses all 14 bolts on each valve cover? I’d look at mine, but won’t have it back until next week.

 

[Smaaron]

Dealer called and said my car is all fixed up. He said it was definitely an assembly issue and the seal was not correctly positioned. I guess the mechanics were surprised it made it 1400 miles like that. I asked if it caused any other damage and he said no. You guys may want to look closely for leaks around your valve covers. Even though my car was leaking a lot of oil, I never saw any on the ground because of the underbody covers.

 

[DCS]

Dealer called and said my car is all fixed up. He said it was definitely an assembly issue and the seal was not correctly positioned. I guess the mechanics were surprised it made it 1400 miles like that. I asked if it caused any other damage and he said no. You guys may want to look closely for leaks around your valve covers. Even though my car was leaking a lot of oil, I never saw any on the ground because of the underbody covers.

Thanks for update. Any idea the quantity of oil lost? Did they clean up the underbody covers?

 

[Smaaron]

Thanks for update. Any idea the quantity of oil lost? Did they clean up the underbody covers?

Not sure about the total quantity lost , but I checked the oil level hot right before I took it to the dealer and it was about 3/4 up between the fill and full and I never lost oil pressure. I’ll have to see if they cleaned it all up tomorrow when I pick it up. They said they were going to hand wash the car for me.

 

[erocker]

Do you know if this is caused by assembly error?

Definitely seems like it though it is absolutely uncommon. After being a mechanic 30 years, there's been a couple times when installing spark plug seals where they have moved/shifted during installation.

There's also a chance that particular seal got damaged or was defective from the get-go.

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